European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 5, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday a Niu Irv 5, 1992 \ stills ind stripes a i inc Praise the lord and pass the ammunition by Chuck Vinci i Washington Bureau i he line Quot there Are no atheists in the Foxholes Quot earned bather William Thomas Cummings a Niehe in history although he did t live Long enough to realize it. The chaplain s 1942 Battlefield Sermon to the troops on Bataan in the Phillip Ines was t immortalized until after world War ii when it joined the military lexicon that includes Praise the lord and pass the a then Cummings was dead one of the a Merican prisoners of War killed in 19 44 when a . Submarine Sank an unmarked japanese ship. L Ive decades have passed but judging by the strength of the military chaplaincy there still must be something to Cummings notion Day of the year in peace and in War about 4,400 military officers go about the work of religion fulfilling a role almost As old As the american military Itsell. An Early Champion of the chaplaincy was i Corgi Washington who in 1 77 it ordered each regiment of the Continental Arim to procure a chaplain. That a is 1 5 years before the Bill of rights with its first amendment guaranteeing Freedom of. Religion. The modern chaplaincy evolved around world War i when it changed from a civilian Volunteer corps to one populated by commissioned officers. Sporadic opposition to the chaplaincy has flared now and then said Rob Boston a spokesman for americans United for separation of Church and state an advocacy group based in Silver Spirg my in 19bx, for example the american jewish Congress called for abolishing the chaplains corps and replacing it with civilians funded Ltd a a chaplain maj Kolh celebrates communion. Hat tin at it adv a Foston delivers a Sermon
